Sleeper Quarterbacks in Orange County (Part 1)

Orange County has produced outstanding quarterbacks in its history. Former USC quarterback and Buffalo Bills starter Rob Johnson played his high school years at El Toro High. Heisman Trophy winner and former Bengal Carson Palmer was dominant at Santa Margarita before he had success on Saturdays and Sundays. Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley donned the three stripes at Mater Dei before their dominant years at USC. Mark Sanchez was winning CIF championships at Mission Viejo before he led the Jets to an AFC championship. Sam Darnold was enjoying cool Friday nights at San Clemente before excelling at USC and becoming a first round draft pick. You get the picture. In September, I wrote a three-part series on the top 15 quarterbacks in Orange County this season. You can find those stories here: <strong><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/09/top-quarterbacks-in-orange-county-11-15/">Top Quarterbacks in Orange County (11-15)</a></strong> <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/09/top-quarterbacks-in-orange-county-6-10/"><strong>Top Quarterbacks in Orange County (6-10)</strong></a> <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/09/top-quarterbacks-in-orange-county-1-5/"><strong>Top Quarterbacks in Orange County (1-5)</strong></a> The problem is, there are more than 15 quality quarterbacks in Orange County. Here is a list of sleeper signal callers in the OC to watch this season: <strong>Jake Black/Jack Ruff, Jr./Jr., St. Margaret's, San Juan Capistrano</strong> Last season I attended a St. Margaret's practice to write a column about its two star receivers when offensive coordinator Rob Healy told me how excited he was about the team's two underclassmen quarterbacks. St. Margaret's is a program which always features quality quarterbacks and they had a quarterback throw for nearly 3000 yards and 33 touchdowns just three years ago. With their system in place, there is no reason to believe that Black or Ruff will not put up big numbers for the Tartans this season. Black is 6-foot-2 and appeared in one game last season where he completed 9 of 16 passes for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ruff only attempted one pass last season. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11097705/Jake-Black"><em><strong>Jake Black Hudl</strong></em></a> <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/3110050/Jack-Ruff"><em><strong>Jack Ruff Hudl</strong></em></a> <hr /> <strong>Luca Carney/Reubin Kim/Kaden Watanabe, Jr./Sr./So., Tesoro, Rancho Santa Margarita</strong> Much like St. Margaret's, Tesoro is a program which also typically features a good quarterback. Former Titan signal callers include <strong><a href="https://calbears.com/sports/football/roster/devon-modster/16134">Devon Modster</a></strong> (currently at Cal) and <a href="https://riceowls.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/robbie-picazo/416"><strong>Robbie Picazo</strong></a> who is currently a coach at Rice. Last season <strong>Sean Lindgren</strong> threw for 2,329 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Titans. Carney filled in for Lindgren last season when he missed a game due to injury against Mission Viejo. Carney was thrown to the Wolves facing one of the top teams in the state in his first varsity start and threw three interceptions but showed some poise. Kim and Watanabe also still have a shot at the starting job according to coach <strong>Matt Poston.</strong> Kim appeared in two games last season and completed all three of his pass attempts for 40 yards. https://twitter.com/TesoroFootball/status/1261322902126727169?s=20 <em><strong>*None of the quarterbacks have updated highlight films on Hudl</strong></em> <hr /> <strong>Gavin Del Toro/Jack Miller, Sr./Sr., Marina, Huntington Beach</strong> The expression "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks" does not apply to Marina. Del Toro and Miller both played very effectively in leading the Vikings to their first CIF championship in school history. Miller completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,226 yards and 14 touchdowns in 10 games. Del Toro completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,144 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 games. Del Toro is also effective in the running game. He rushed for 154 yards and 6 touchdowns for the Vikings. I expect both quarterbacks to get substantial playing time for the Vikings again this season as seniors. https://twitter.com/ProfessorTurner/status/1200646916427485184?s=20 <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/9952909/Gavin-Del-Toro"><em><strong>Gavin Del Toro Hudl</strong></em></a> <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/9953252/Jack-Miller"><em><strong>Jack Miller Hudl</strong></em></a> <hr /> <strong>Brody Jones, Jr., Crean Lutheran, Irvine</strong> Jones is a big and athletic quarterback who was a bright spot on a weak Crean Lutheran team last season. At 6-foot-3, 185-pounds, Jones moves very well and makes big plays with his legs. He throws well on the run and extends plays that should be a lost cause. He threw for 1,494 yards and 17 touchdowns for a Crean Lutheran team that finished in last place in the Empire League. Jones rushed for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well and was named First Team All-Irvine by OCSportsZone. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11458022/Brody-Jones"><em><strong>Brody Jones Hudl</strong></em></a> <hr /> <strong>Nick Kim, Sr., Newport Harbor, Newport Beach</strong> When Cole Lavin transferred to Brighton, Utah, it opened the door for Kim to be the full-time starting quarterback for the Sailors. Kim is 6-1, 190-pounds and a pocket passer. He stays tall in the pocket, does a good job with his reads (doesn't eye his primary target) and handles pressure well. He has tremendous arm strength and can make difficult throws. The knock on him is that he does take risks which can result in turnovers. But Newport Harbor was playing from behind a lot late in the season so some of those risks were appropriate. Kim is a quality quarterback who will likely lead the Sailors to the playoffs. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11137010/Nick-Kim"><em><strong>Nick Kim Hudl</strong></em></a>